


Sugarcoated

by callmeakumatized



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Lovers, Enemies with a Common Enemy, F/M, Just sayin', Kids just want to hate each other but can't, Lovesquare, Rated "T" for Kissing, Romance Prompts, Someone Tastes Like Sugar, There's no Friendship In Between, Valentine's Day, enemies au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-15 18:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13619355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/callmeakumatized/pseuds/callmeakumatized
Summary: They were enemies with a common enemy. They fought Akumas together just to fight equally hardagainsteach other afterward.It wasn't necessarily...good. Theyweresuperheroes, after all, and seeing the "Saviors of Paris" giving each other bloody knuckleson purposeprobably didn't bode well for the citizens of their city.But, for them...they had an understanding: they didn't have to like each other to completely trust each other.It worked for them....And then that cat had to go and mess up their carefully crafted dynamic.





	1. Ladybug VS LadyNoir

**Author's Note:**

> LET THE COUNTDOWN TO V-DAY BEGIN! 8)

 

_Day 1 prompt:_

_"I want you to remember you deserve this."_

* * *

It was  _stupid_.

Another  _stupid_ Akuma to defeat alongside that  _stupid_ cat. Gall, she hated him. She hated his  _stupid_ saunter, his  _stupid_ smirk, and just his overall  _stupid_ look. This was Ladybug's personal opinion, though. Objectively, Chat Noir was the finest thing since sliced bread and sugarcoated donuts.

Tasted just as sweet too.

Objectively speaking, of course.

(She  _had to save him, dangit_.)

And now Ladybug had to deal with all this stupid on top of fighting her best-friend-turned-crazed-henchman, "Lady Wifi".

Why did Alya want "LadyNoir" to happen so bad, anyway?

It was  _never_ going to happen.

_N – E – V – E – R._

And yet, here Ladybug was, trapped against the wall, little shining locks over her wrists and her "best friend" laughing in her face. All Lady Wifi wants in a love confession! And then, unlike  _every villain ever,_ she'll let Ladybug go! Whatever. Ladybug had heard it all. But the holds on her wrists weren't budging, and Chat Noir was nowhere in sight. Her options were limited. She could lie, of course. She  _was_  fighting for her life. And trying to save Paris! It would be justified. COMPLETELY justified. And…well, Chat Noir wasn't in the room, so there was a small chance that he wouldn't hear her "confess". In front of a camera. For all of Paris to see.

Ladybug groaned heavily in her head.

"Alya – "

"I am  _LADY WIFI_ , BugBrat!"

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Yeah, ok. Whatever. Look, I  _can't_ give you a love confession," Ladybug reiterated with air quotes for the fifth time, "because I don't even  _like_ Chat Noir, let alone  _love_ him. And, guess what! He hates me too! He's just a business partner to me, that's it. A bad,  _bad_ business partner."

"Takes one to know one."

Both girls jumped at the new voice in the room, but before either had a chance to put a face to the voice, a steel-toed boot slammed into Lady Wifi's face, followed swiftly by a staff to the stomach. She was suddenly pinned temporarily to the wall, and Ladybug looked to see who her savior was.

She had heard about other Miraculouses, and, well, a girl could only hope.

She was extremely disappointed.

"Chat Noir," Ladybug deadpanned. "So glad to see you."

Chat Noir chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head and checking over Ladybug's holds. He wore his signature smirk, like he constantly knew something she didn't. It made Ladybug's blood boil.

"How do I get these off?" he finally snarled through gritted teeth.

Before Ladybug could reprimand him for losing his temper so easily, Lady Wifi started throwing discs with 'pause' symbols on them toward the kitten superhero, and he was struggling to dodge them while still attempting to free Ladybug.

"She uses the wifi signals. So maybe – "

"Mmkay, yeah, I get you," he cut her off, nodding. Without another word or glance in her direction, he started for the door. Ladybug, shocked, yelled after him.

"Hey, wait! I didn't tell you the plan!"

"Uh, I have a brain?" he replied, deflecting more pink discs and now kicks at the freed Lady Wifi. "I get it, and I don't need to blab it in front of this chick so she can head me off, thanks."

" _I'm_ the brain of this operation!"

"Ha! Says the  _bug_ stuck on the wall."

"You have  _no idea_ what my plan is!"

Chat Noir let out a loud, exasperated sigh. With a huge swipe of his baton, he sent Lady Wifi into the freezer, snapping it shut. The girl started screaming angrily (something about no "making-out" when she couldn't see it) while Chat Noir turned on Ladybug.

"How about we make a bet, Lovebug."

She didn't like his tone of voice. …Or the nickname. That too.

"How about I take care of 'the plan' since you're clearly," – he gestured broadly to her – " _incapacitated_. And if I can do it in less than…5 minutes? You give me a kiss."

_Excuse me!?_

" _On camera_."

Ha! As if…!

When she didn't actually respond – she  _couldn't get her mouth to form words, it was not her fault!_  – he laughed again before throwing her a wink and leaping through the kitchen door, yelling behind him.

"I'll take that as a 'yes!'"

Chat Noir was long gone before Ladybug even had time to comprehend what had just happened.

This…This wasn't their dynamic. They were enemies. Well, enemies with a common enemy. It had been that way since day one! She annoyed him, and he annoyed her. When he found out she hated flirting, he started ostentatiously flirting with her just to make her rile her up. And she threw him off buildings with her yo-yo when he least suspected it, and took it as her personal mission to make him look bad in front of Paris. They would race to the Eiffel Tower and the loser had to let the winner give them a solid kick to the back. They kept tallies on who landed the final blow in an Akuma battle (it was 12-10 to Ladybug at the moment). They "played" Bloody Knuckles and Slap, just for an excuse to be mean to each other. It wasn't… _good_ , perhaps…especially for superheroes. But, for them, somehow it worked? It just seemed like an understanding between them: they didn't have to  _like_ each other to completely  _trust_ each other.

And then that  _stupid_ cat had to go and mess up their carefully crafted dynamic.

Ladybug growled and tried pulling out her arms again in frustration. Acutely aware of the camera staring at her now, the one that had just captured everything that alley cat had said, Ladybug could do nothing but wait patiently for her "partner" to crash and burn and then hopefully she would be able to save everyone afterward. It wasn't that she didn't think he was smart, but…she needed this? She needed to be the brain of the operations, because he was certainly the brawn. What good was she to the team otherwise?

She could do this.

He'd be back for her. She knew he would.

When five minutes later found Ladybug standing in front of news cameras and cell phones – including, to her complete annoyance, an Akuma-less  _Alya_  – who were all staring at her expectantly, Ladybug was sort of, well…frozen.

"Time to pay your dues, Ladybug."

Ladybug shivered involuntarily at the  _whisper in her ear_. The fact that it was  _Chat Noir_ meant  _nothing_. It just tickled her ear.

_Uh, personal space much!?_

She resisted the urge to punch him.

Upon turning to whisper angrily back to him, it only made her frustrated at the height difference, the one he was purposefully playing up so she couldn't respond without making the comparison painfully obvious to everyone else. So Ladybug reached up and pulled Chat down to her height roughly by his bell.

"You just take whatever you can get, don't you?" she whisper huffily back into his one human ear.

He laughed heartily at her antics. "Ha, yeah, something like that, LB."  _Wink._

Ladybug sighed.

Then turned momentarily to the camera, plastering on an overly-sweet smile. Chat Noir, to his benefit, actually looked a little surprised at this. Ladybug pulled back to look him straight in the eyes before leaning up, a hand on his shoulder. They were cheek to cheek, and she was at least satisfied in knowing his felt as warm as hers.

Ladybug's next words she spoke deliberately slow and soft.

"I want you to remember, Alley Cat… You  _deserrrve_ this."

And with that, Ladybug, who had made sure her face was hidden from the cameras by his, moved as if she was going to kiss his cheek. That's certainly what it would look like to the cameras…she hoped.

But it definitely wasn't a kiss.

Ladybug quickly sucked in what skin she could from his cheek and bit down.  _Hard_.

Chat Noir mewled and jumped, a hand reaching up to slap the side of his face. Ladybug only looked shy and abashed, the crowd in front of them going wild with screams and flashes.

Then she ran.

And laughed all the way home at the  _stupid_ look on his  _stupidly_ handsome face.

* * *

_Tomorrow (Day 2) Prompt:_

_"It wasn't smart, it wasn't cute, and it wasn't pleasant. But it was the best option."_

 


	2. Adrien VS Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gall, this looks like a hickey!  
> Better see if Marinette can help me cover it up!  
> -Adrien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm…okay, so it's a little past midnight, so technically a little late? Hope you enjoy! ;D

_Day 2 Prompt:_

_"It wasn't smart, it wasn't cute, and it wasn't pleasant. But it was the best option."_

* * *

 

Adrien didn't think his first hickey would come like this.

Did it really count as a hickey if it didn't come, well,  _pleasantly_? This information might be vital if he happened to be playing Truth or Dare at some point in the future.

Adrien stretched the skin around on his cheek as he studied his reflection in the mirror, a sigh coming out involuntarily.

"You only have yourself to blame for that little 'love bite'," his raspy-voiced companion said as he floated around the corner of the bathroom door.

Adrien scowled but resisted the urge to swat the cat-like pest away.

"Why the heck did you challenge her like that anyway?" Plagg went on, now speaking through a mouthful of cheese. His tone bugged Adrien to no end, and Adrien was about to reply with something witty and clever, but…he fell a little short. Because, well, he still wasn't exactly sure  _what_ possessed him to make that bet with Ladybug.

Maybe it was because it was getting boring just letting her win every time they raced to the Eiffel Tower.

Or maybe it was the fact that it was getting harder for him to make her blush. He'd been having to get more and more creative to get her face to match the color of her suit like he was used to.

Her suit…

The blond boy ran his fingers over the mark again.

…Or maybe the girl's suit itself was just starting to grow on him.

Definitely  _not_ the girl inside. Not the girl who singlehandedly made him scared to be alone with  _any_  girl outside of his superhero outfit. He definitely couldn't kick a normal girl off a building when he got frustrated with her. That behavior was usually frowned upon. But Ladybug…he couldn't help it. She brought out the worst in him every time she was around. Annoying her became a coping mechanism for Adrien. It made patrols and Akuma battles bearable.

So it definitely wasn't  _her_ that was  _attractive_  in the suit, that red suit with black spots was just attractive in general.

_Wait…where had_ that  _thought come from!?_

Adrien straightened up, looking at himself in his full glory, bite mark and all. Ladybug, to the public, was known to be lovely, hard to impress, hard to catch off guard. That was no secret. When Adrien looked at the mark again, the sight actually made him a little… _proud_ of himself.  _He_ had inspired that out of Ladybug, seemed to 'succeed' in riling her up enough to finally get a satisfactory reaction out of her.

Suddenly the wannabe "hickey" didn't seem so ostentatious. Now, to Adrien, it looked more like a trophy. The thought made the secret superhero practically  _preen_.

Until Plagg was, for lack of better words, the unlikely voice of reason:

"Puh. Live it up now, model-boy. What's your father going to say when it sees that?"

Adrien cleared his throat, eye widening slightly.

…Yeah, he definitely needed to cover this up.

Adrien pulled out his phone and dialed the first number he could think of.

It wasn't smart, what he had done. He could see that clearly now. And it definitely wasn't cute to him anymore, not when suddenly faced with having to show it to the world and  _not_ being able to brag about how it got it.

It wouldn't be pleasant, having to show this to Marinette…but it was the best option. It was his only option.

Not even five minutes later, Adrien escaped out his front door, shooting a text to Nathalie after he was long gone, heading for a familiar bakery.

Things Marinette expected that morning:

1\. Waking up late.

2\. Having a "fight" with her mom over having breakfast at the table vs grabbing breaky on the go for the sake of a few more minutes in bed.

3\. Breakfast at the table.

Things Marinette did _NOT_ expect that morning:

1\. Anything to do with Adrien Agreste.

Okay,  _maybe_  a cat meme in a group text at some unnaturally early hour, but really. A  _personal_ text? Asking for help? From  _her_?  _ASAP!?_

Marinette took just one more minute to herself to scream into her pillow before finally getting up and tripping down her stairs to get ready. When the doorbell rang two minutes into getting dressed, Marinette mentally added another thing to her list of unexpected things for the day:

2\. ADRIEN AGRESTE MAKING IT TO HER HOUSE IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES.

Marinette tried to calm herself down, patting her cheeks while Tikki zoomed nervously around her head. Tikki tried to comfort her, telling Marinette calmly as she could that Adrien was patient, that Adrien would understand that the girl just needed a minute to –

"Did Marinette ever tell you that she wanted to be a ballerina when she was younger? Here, let me show you a picture!"

The companions both squealed quietly when Marinette's mother's voice floated up from downstairs.

Marinette wasn't sure  _what_ she was wearing, or what her hairstyle actually  _was_. All she could register was that she was dressed, and something was tying her hair back, and that was good enough. Good enough that she felt comfortable enough to barrel down the stairs like a stampede of clumsy elephants.

"ADRIEN!" Marinette practically screamed from the floor before hastily picking herself up. "HI! THANKS MOM WE'LL BE UPSTAIRS NOW BYE!"

The next second, ignoring the heat flaring up over her whole body, Marinette grabbed onto Adrien's arm and pulled him up to her room.

Only to panic once she was at the door.

_OH, THE POSTERS!_

One look around, though, told her she didn't actually need to worry.

_OH, BLESS YOU, TIKKI._

Letting out an audible sigh, Marinette hoisted herself up through the door, ignoring the last few steps, and stood on her feet, gathering her courage before turning to face Adrien.

"Thanks for helping me, Marinette," the boy behind her said as he climbed up the rest of the stairs. "I know it's short notice, but I really appreciate it."

"Oh," Marinette said breathlessly, wringing her hands together. "It's no problem, reall – OH MY  _CATS,_ WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!?"

Did that look like…? Was that a…? No…

"Uh…"

Adrien paused, and Marinette cursed herself. She'd made him uncomfortable. Nosy girl. That wasn't a  _bite_ mark on his face, and it definitely wasn't  _hers_. This..this was just because that  _stupid_ cat-boy had been on her mind all night and she was  _obviously_ just thinking of him still and that's why her brain was trying to make this a comparison because  _obviously_ Chat Noir  _couldn't_ be Adrien Agreste and  _surely_ he had a perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened.

Marinette, at the end of her drawn-out freak-out, looked up into the comforting eyes of Adrien Agreste.

Except…

He was looking away.

And.  _Smirking._

"It's, uh," he started into an explanation again, though this time he looked more like he was trying not to laugh about something than worrying about being embarrassed. "It's just a… _bug_  bite. Heh. Nothing to worry about, but I would just hate for anyone to see it and think…things. You know?"

Oh, Marinette knew.

'Bug bite', he says.

"Uh, ok. Yeah. I get it."

She gets it. Really.

"Um, let me just run and get some stuff, ok? I'll be back in a sec. Just, uh, have a seat."

_Don't touch anything_ , she mentally adds, biting her tongue so the words don't actually escape.

"Hey, thanks a lot Marinette," he replies. And there it is. There's the model smile. The look Marinette offers in return feels painful on her face, like a mix between comforting, sweet, and, well, slightly crazed.

Bypassing her mother's teasing glance on her way down the stairs, Marinette, instead of heading for the bathroom and her make-up bag, went right for her backpack. A moment later, she pull out her sketchbook and a pencil. Something crashed above her but she ignored it. For now.

Marinette hesitated for just a moment more. Could this really be… _him_? And, more importantly, did she  _want_ to know? Pushing down her doubt in favor of satisfying her curiosity, Marinette, ever-so-slowly, sketched out a comic-book version of Adrien (she was quite practiced in this, but she'd never say why). Then, step by step, she started to add and take away a few things at a time.

First, she erased the signature "whoosh" that was Adrien Agreste's hair and made it a little more…vagabond-like.

Next, she added a mask, ignoring both the ball of yarn that suddenly made the trip down the stairs and her mother's wondering stare.

Then…cat ears. And, just for good measure, a little bell. Because, why not?

Looking over the project with a critical, hopeful eye, Marinette was finally satisfied. She sighed in relief. Nah…this definitely wasn't Chat…Noir…

A metal picture of Adrien winking at her a few days before entered unbidden into Marinette's mind. She looked back down at the sketch in front of her. Biting her lip, she tentatively erased one of Adrien's slanted eyes and replaced it with a playful wink.

"Marinette, honey," Sabine's voice behind Marinette made her jump slightly. "Is there a reason Adrien is upstairs in your room while you're down here drawing Chat Noir?"

"N-No, no reason, Maman," Marinette replied, turning and giving her mother the most innocent look she could muster. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go up and kick his butt for messing up my room."

Sabine looked surprised for a moment, then smiled and started for the door to head downstairs. "Okay, sweetie. Just make sure you say goodbye before you head to school." Marinette waved while she headed up the stairs. "And don't be late!"

Marinette waved noncommittedly from the stairway, eyes on the door above her. There were harsh whispers, and Marinette distinctly heard arguing voices.

_His Kwami_ , she thought, and bit back a scream.

And when she saw the state of her room, she really regretted not saying to "not mess with her stuff" out loud.

Adrien and his companion jumped when the trap door slammed, the tiny floating cat rocketing into the boy's over shirt at the sight of her. As if she hadn't seen him already.

As if she didn't need any more confirmation in whom she was now dealing with.

And he would soon have an idea of who  _he_ was dealing with.

She jumped him.

And not in any  _nice_ way.

Marinette laughed when the cat-boy yelped.

She was quite determined to leave a mark on his other cheek.

* * *

 

_Tomorrow's (Day 3) Prompt:_

_"When your OTP is in an intense argument and their faces get closer together but then they stop talking…_

_…and they look at the others' lips."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, whoever you were (FF.net is NOT letting me look at reviews so I can't see it! D: ) for pointing out that Chat Noir got a BUG BITE. HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THAT?? Hahaha seriously made my day XD  
> ...  
> It's late. I'm tired. I take full responsibility for my barely-edited writing. And my weird sense of humor. X)  
> Thanks for reading! (3  
> xoxo – Maki


	3. Adrien VS Ladybug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plagg is a jerk.  
> Tikki is frustrated.  
> And Ladybug is the "gift" that just keeps on giving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *watches the 1000 word goal per chapter come and go*  
> *watches Valentine's Day approach*  
> Erm…we're gonna be a little longer than expected guys. BUT THANKS FOR READING! :D

_Day 3 Prompt:_

_“When your OTP is in an intense argument and their faces get closer together but then they stop talking…_

_…and they look at the others’ lips.”_

* * *

 

Plagg was, in essence,  _naughty_.

He was a naughty Kwami with low moral standards and a high interest in wreaking havoc. It was a dangerous combination in the best of creatures. Which Plagg was definitely  _not_.

It took him about two minutes to decide that he was bored with Adrien and start wandering around the room, looking for sweets of some sort. This chick was small and cute, and, historically speaking, small and cute girls had an affinity for keeping yummy things close by. Plagg didn't know why. It just was.

When he spotted the cookies, he knew he was in luck.

Adrien continued to prattle away, but Plagg was enjoying a sound noseful of the delicious scent of warm chocolate. It wasn't cheese, true – not even remotely close on the scale of acceptable entrées for the picky Kwami – but the baked goods  _were_ fresh, the chocolate chips still gooey to the touch. But moments away from losing himself completely and sinking his tiny teeth into one of the delectable treats, he saw something that made his belly flip in all the best ways.

Because, of  _course_ , she would be here.

Of  _course_  his Ward would have a crush on the girl he also claimed was the bane of his existence.

The books exploded off the shelf in Plagg's sudden takeoff to chase the creature who had dashed behind them. Like he hadn't seen her. Like he couldn't  _smell_ her now that he knew she was there. Plagg wasn't deterred by a little game of chase – he  _was_ a cat. This was playtime for him. He completely ignored Adrien's shout to knock it off, instead zooming into the knitting basket with a  _fwoomf!_ Amongst the soft yarns the bounced and cool steel of the knitting needles, Plagg only had eyes for his prey: a little red Kwami, buzzing angrily beneath him.

Plagg threw his head back and laughed.

qpqpqpqpqpqp

"String cheese," Adrien muttered through gritted teeth, "for a  _week_  if you don't  _knock it off_!"

"Isn't that what I just did?" Plagg retorted smugly, gesturing to the books on the floor and in Adrien's hand.

Adrien scowled. Something in the last minute had caused Plagg have some sort of sudden, gleeful vendetta against Marinette's entire room. After knocking the books off the little shelf and then divebombing into a basket full of yarn, the kitten Kwami had set out to destroy everything, laughing like a maniac the entire time.

Was the little pest  _trying_ to get him in trouble with this girl!?

Adrien continued to mutter to himself while going about, attempting to right all the things Plagg had set out to destroy (Marinette hadn't organized her books  _that_ specifically that she would notice if one was out of place, right!?) When muttering angrily hadn't worked, threatening did; within a moment after saying the words, Plagg had conceded to Adrien's threat in lieu of low-grade cheese substitution, and was now "helping" (mostly by  _not_ destroying things. But Adrien wasn't going to complain).

A wood-on-wood rubbing sound drew Adrien's attention to were Plagg seemed to be having a tug-of-war match with one of Marinette's desk drawers, pulling on the handle with all his might. Adrien rolled his eyes before going over to help. A sudden squeak from under the drawer made Adrien jump; the drawer suddenly popped open, sending Plagg and a large assortment of papers flying through the room. Adrien groaned before scrambling hurriedly to snatch them up.

Now, could he really be blamed for looking at what was in his hands?

And could he really be in any sort of trouble when he looked in the rest of the drawer to see several of the same sorts of well,  _literal_  photographic evidence of something that made him incredibly happy? Giddy, even?

"Ugh!" Plagg said suddenly, breaking Adrien out of his reverie. "Take that lovesick look off your face! It's  _disgusting_!"

Though Adrien couldn't very well remove his smile, fixed as it now was, he did rush to finish cleaning the rest of the room.

(Plagg, unbeknownst to Adrien, watched the added kick in the boy's step with a smug smile.)

Though Marinette and Adrien had never set anything in place "officially", the two had always sort of had an…understanding between each other. From the time his umbrella passed into her hands, the two had been somewhat inseparable. Now, there was no talk of "feelings", no DTR between them; the shy pair was too afraid to lose  _something_  that they ended up never starting  _anything_. However, they  _were_  very exclusive in the sense that they wouldn't go out with anyone else. When someone else asked them out on dates, they would politely refuse. And when there was a school dance or other function, no one was ever surprised to see them go together, though they seemed to toe the line of "platonic" and "something more" every time. Moving past polite pleasantries was  _not_ in their repertoire.

For his part, Adrien was…well, Adrien was  _terrified._

What if she realized how socially inept he was?

What if she ended up  _not_ liking his sweet-sauce sense of humor?

What if she thought he was a complete dorkasaurus!?

So, no…Adrien made no move forward. Even though he desperately wanted to.

This, though? This tangible piece of evidence he had just stumbled upon?  _This_  gave him some hope in that department. And maybe a sweet stroke to his ego. Because, Adrien mused while he shoved the lot of them back into the drawer, why else would a girl have tons of pictures of a boy hidden in her room?

Without meaning to, Adrien giggled. Then turned on his Kwami, trying to look cross, as the situation demanded of him.

"You shouldn't have shown this to me," Adrien scolded, trying as hard as he could to actually  _mean_ the words. "I know you did that on purpose."

His Kwami only scoffed. The little cat had given up altogether in his pretend helpfulness at righting the room, settling instead on the plate of cookies, munching away happily (yes, taking a bite out of each one, just to annoy Tikki). With a loud swallow, Plagg finally answered nonchalantly,

"The drawer was stuck, you were helping me, end of story."

This time, Adrien scoffed in quick reply.

"That is  _not_ what happened. How did you even know these were there?"

The next few minutes were spent in an escalating argument, Adrien starting to really lay into Plagg about the mess he had made, and Plagg just rolling his eyes in response, or sassing his Ward with some well-placed words.

_BANG._

Adrien let out a very manly yelp when the trap door suddenly smashed open.

Before Adrien could even get a good look at her – and before the lovesick smile could slide back onto his face, she was on him like butter on toast.

…She was smooth like butter, and he was  _definitely_ toast.

She had pounced on him hard enough that they went rolling across her bedroom, Adrien having no clue as to what was going on. All he saw were limbs and a hard floor until they stopped. Panting slightly, he looked at the girl now straddling him with arms on either side of his head, and felt his face blanch at the sight of her murderous look.

"This is going to be a really short fight,  _Chaton_ , if you don't decide to defend yourself." Marinette purred in a low voice before blowing stray hairs out of her face. "That's the only warning you get."

_Haha…cute. She gave me a nickname._

Wait.

NO.

NONONONONONONONONO.

Adrien  _tried_ to deny it. He  _tried_ to convince every cognitive force in his brain to  _stop_ connecting the dots, to  _stop_ painting the complete picture in his head. But there it was anyway, a masterpiece framed in blue-eyed fury and midnight hair.

And now…what?

Now…

_And now…_

Chat had to  _win_  this.

Or…escape. Maybe both somehow.

In a practiced move, Adrien deftly flipped Marinette off of him. She landed onto her chaise lounge in temporary shock, and Adrien immediately headed for the trap door.

"Nope!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Not dealing with this right now! I'm out!"

"You are  _not_!"

Ah, apparently escape was not in his cards today.

In a surprising stroke of  _good_ luck, Adrien was able to look around before Marinette was on him again. This time, he was ready. This time, it was  _so. ON._

Adrien casually moved out of the way of her aggressive attack, but instead of her running into her desk as he had planned, the small girl jumped up and scaled the vaulted wall before flipping back onto him. Adrien readied himself, allowing her momentum to take them both down before sliding out from under her and landing a swift kick on her back. With a small "oof!", Marinette skidded across the floor and twirled until she was on her feet. But Adrien was already on her, grabbing her hands behind her back and slamming her face-first into the window.

"I thought  _gentlemen_ weren't supposed to attack  _ladies_ ," she growled out through heavy breathing.

"I'm glad you see me as a gentleman," Adrien retorted, equally winded, "but you are  _no lady_."

Marinette barked out a laugh, dropping so suddenly to the ground that Adrien smacked his face into the window. Not wanting to lose the upper hand, Adrien spun around and dropped into a defensive stance, only to see Marinette a few feet away, ripping some sort of hanging projector screen from the ceiling under her loft bed. Her heated stare made him pause for a moment; the hesitation cost him, though, and in the next second, Marinette leaped up to easily gain the high – though unsteady – ground on the chaise lounge. Marinette swung at him when Adrien started to circle the little sofa like the predator he was.

"I can't believe you tricked me into liking you!" she yelled at him.

Adrien laughed humorlessly. "I can't believe you think I would do something like that." Another swing in his direction, and Adrien slowly made his way back to the disheveled desk. "Gall! I thought you were  _sane_ , Marinette, but you really are one crazy chick!"

"Takes one to know one!" she mimicked back at him in a mockingly sweet tone, using his own words from the night before.

Adrien grabbed a handful of books and started chucking them at Marinette. She started swinging her screen thing in her hands like a baseball bat. The books were flying in both directions across the room, creating a messy topping to the overall ruffled appearance of the pink space their tousle had caused. They continued tossing insults and books at each other, only pausing momentarily when Marinette urged Adrien in a suddenly normal voice, "Oh, not that one, that one's my design sketchbook."

Adrien put it down gently, then, in a sudden change of demeanor, dove for Marinette's ankles, succeeding in knocking her off balance. She toppled on top of him, her makeshift weapon, as Adrien had hoped, skittering onto the floor. With a sound shove, Adrien knocked Marinette completely off the lounge on the other side, leaving him free to pick up her discarded…schedule?

Adrien paused for a moment, scanning the detailed agenda curiously. Since when did Marinette have photoshoots? Or take fencing? Or have Chinese lessons…on the same days and times…as…him…wut.

Despite finding out that the constant thorn in his side was also this amazing friend in disguise, Adrien could not help feeling all the creeped-out flattery that came with this most recent discovery.

When he turned to Marinette and saw her horrified face, he grinned cheekily.

"Geez, Princess," he purred, laying his head on crossed arms on her lounge, staring at her. (If he was Chat Noir, his tail would be flicking excitedly.) "I didn't know you were so  _obsessed_ with me."

He expected to knock her off guard. He did  _not_ expect her to invade his space, leaning on her arms across the lounge until she was almost touching his nose.

" _Totally_ obsessed, Adrien," she hummed in return, her voice low and quiet. "So much so, I'm just  _begging_ you to let me kiss your other cheek."

This time,  _Adrien_ took the first pounce. In one fluid movement, he had her pinned to the ground, body sitting on her legs, hands holding hers up by her head.

"I think that's enough playing around for you, M'Lady."

She struggled, grunting with the effort, and Adrien would've laughed at the scene if he hadn't had to concentrate every effort to maintaining his – probably brief – dominance.

"I  _hate_ that you're so nice to me!" Marinette suddenly shouted out at him furiously.

Adrien scowled, the words somehow making sense to him unlike how they wouldn't to any  _normal_ person.

"I  _hate_ that you always make me smile!" Adrien shouted back, leaning closer for emphasis.

"I  _hate_ your sunshine hair!" Marinette writhed under his hold, trying to wriggle free.

"I  _hate_ your pretty eyes!" Adrien spat out through gritted teeth.

Marinette suddenly paused, chest heaving from the roughhousing and probably from the physical pressure he was putting her. She stared up at him, and her face flushed red, though he didn't think it was from strain or effort. Her features relaxed slightly, and Adrien felt his own mouth clamp shut in subconscious response.

"You…think my eyes are pretty?" she whispered.

And yet Adrien could still hear her…because, somehow, they had gotten…so close.

He gulped.

"Yes," he whispered back

The only sound in the room was labored breathing between two teens.

She smelled faintly like sweat, and Adrien realized how hot she was under him.

Okay, not like  _that_ , but…okay, exactly like that.

Ladybug in civilian clothes…Marinette…Marinette dressed as Ladybug…covered in tight red spandex and saving Paris. Saving Paris with that dark hair and that fluttered playfully in the wind, the girl tough as nails yet cared so deeply for others. With those big blue eyes…and…a-and those pink…lips…

Without thinking much more about it, his eyes darted down to her lips and back again, in time to see that she had just done the same.

This time, Marinette gulped.

A little red blur suddenly started flitting around their heads, darting in between their faces. Adrien yelped in surprise – and, of course, again, in a very,  _very_ manly way.

"Wha – eh  _hem_ – what is it, Tikki?" Marinette said in a small voice. Adrien studied her face, noticing that for the first time she looked truly bothered.

"Oh, Marinette," said the tiny Kwami in a sugary voice, laced with…disappointment? "There's a  _lot_ I want to say, but right now, you're going to be late for school!"

Marinette looked passed her Kwami into Adrien's face. Adrien stared back for only a second before doing what was second nature for him to do around her, and grinned widely. Marinette frowned before shoving him off of her.

Adrien scrambled to his feet just in time to tug Marinette back by the arm before she descended downstairs. Clearing his throat, he shoved her into her closet.

"Hey!" she shouted and looked like she was going to lay into him again, but Adrien only held up a hand in abrupt dismissal.

"You, uh, you look like crap," he admitted harshly, remembering that she really at just attacked him…after biting his cheek the day before. But…he still cared enough about her to make sure she didn't go to school like… _that_. "You should change. I'll, uh, I'll cover for you."

Marinette only gave him a hard stare, seeming to be caught in conflicting emotions.

Adrien could relate.

Before Adrien made it down the stairs, though, Marinette called down from her room.

"Adrien!"

He looked back to see her head floating in the opening of her trapdoor.

"Fix your hair."

Five minutes before school started, and Adrien was standing in the guys' bathroom, trying to set his whoosh style back in place and staring at the mark on his cheek again. His Lady's mark.

He grinned  to himself.

_Marinette's_ mark.

Somehow…everything bitter suddenly tasted very,  _very_ sweet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was supposed to have a countdown to Valentine's Day, but…I couldn't bring myself to post anything over the weekend. It was…hard? I don't know how to say it. It didn't seem right to go on as if nothing happened. Because something DID happen. And although my world is still turning, it seemed unfair to post something when so many other people's had sudden stopped.
> 
> Over the weekend, [Maerynn](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Maerynn/pseuds/Maerynn), a pretty well-known Miraculous fanfic writer ("Under Lock and Key", "Bring Me Home", etc.), passed away in a car accident, leaving behind her loved-ones, including her children.
> 
> Although I didn't know her personally, something about her sweetness and the way that she seemed to bleed into everyone's lives in one way or another touched my heart deeply. She will be missed. A lot. Not just for her amazing works in writing, but for all the things she did to brighten others' lives. And so I want to dedicate this work to her, and to those who, like this miraculous lady, were unable to finish here on Earth what they started, whether works of art, raising your family, finishing a college degree, or finally saving up enough to travel the world.
> 
> This is for you.
> 
> And I hope, wherever you are, you know we're thinking of you.
> 
> And I hope, wherever you are, it puts a smile on your face.
> 
> xoxoxo


	4. AdrieNette VS MiracuClass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which LadyNoir temporarily forgets they're in their civvies.

_Day 4 Prompt:_

_"Sometimes," they said, very quietly, "I think you break my heart a little bit."_

_"Sometimes," came the reply, "I almost believe you actually have one."_

* * *

It was when she actually took the time to look at herself full-on in the mirror that Marinette really knew she was in trouble. Sure, she was a little distracted this morning, but…no aspiring designer should even  _have_ these things in her closet. As atrocious as this mishmash of "slob" hanging on her frame was, though, it wasn't what was bothering her most. Nor, surprisingly, was it the fact that Adrien had seen her like this, and even  _told_ her she looked like crap. It wasn't even that  _Chat Noir_ had seen her in anyway other than completely put together, although that was a close second. What  _really_ was causing her distress was realizing that it  _mattered_.

It  _mattered_ to her what  _Chat Noir_ thought of her.

Sure, Adrien and Chat were the same person – a fact Marinette was still fighting in her head about. But Adrien she knew would accept her no matter what. But Chat? Chat always expected  _more_ of her. He was, in fact, the only person in Paris who would "stand up" to Ladybug and all her bullheadedness. The only person who knew she was human and treated her as such. Even then, even knowing all this, Marinette told herself it still shouldn't matter…but…she  _wanted_ to be that person for him. He was a jerk sometimes, but part of her always stood taller when he was around. And maybe, she could finally admit to herself now that it had (almost literally) slapped her in the face, it wasn't just because she wanted to prove him wrong, but maybe she  _wanted_ him to  _like_ her. Maybe as much as she liked him.

The Marinette reflected in the mirror suddenly went red from the tips of her ears to just below her shoulders.

_Complete embarrassment_  couldn't accurately describe what she was currently feeling.

She had just thrown Adrien Agreste around her room.

She had bitten Chat Noir's cheek in lieu of a promised kiss.

And…she wished she had the opportunity to kiss him again.

_Stupid cat._

Well…

Maybe it wasn't too late to make a good impression…

Marinette dug into her closet, looking for a perfect –  _yes!_

There was more than one way to catch a kitten.

Ladybug's –  _Marinette's_ – Kwami, Tikki, had, thankfully, given them plenty of time to get to school. Apparently the little red bug's concept of time was a bit better than her human counterpart. Adrien still had about five minutes until the bell for class rang, even after messing with his hair in the bathroom.

Of course, he could have done with being late, seeing as how Nino – and 110% Alya – would be all over him with questions as soon as he stepped into the classroom.

Adrien sighed as he walked up the steps, trying to think of another excuse for the purply mark not doing a good job of blending in on his cheek. He couldn't call it a "bug bite" anymore – Alya was  _there_ last night, and Adrien did  _not_ want the nosey (but fun) blogger connecting any more dots about his secret identity. And, unfortunately, he couldn't accuse Marinette of being the cause either, for the same reason. A snort of laughter burst out of Adrien at the thought of how red Marinette would turn if he claimed the "love bite" was from her.

Adrien was about to enter their classroom when a slight crash sounded from downstairs, followed by an exasperated groan.

_Speak of the bug._

Chat Noir –  _and_ Adrien _,_ for that matter – would recognize  _that_ sound anywhere. Smiling to himself, Adrien debated briefly whether to wait for Marinette here or not before going into the room. Then, his smile faltered…he had probably already hit his embarrassment quota for the day, and did  _not_ feel like running over his blush limit. Seeing Marinette again, so soon after their…tousle? The cost would be astronomical. With this thought, he walked as calmly as he could into the classroom.

As usual, the class was already buzzing in conversation. A set of paper airplanes soared over his head, a cheer and a groan from the corner where Alix and Kim were when they landed. Alya was leaning over her desk, chatting excitedly to Nino. Rose, Juleka, Ivan, and Myléne were around her, and they were all watching footage of Alya herself being Akumatized. Lady Wifi. Honestly…that was probably the best Akuma name for the blogger. Adrien smiled, shaking his head, and was about to move to his seat when a sudden yelp made him jump.

The group hovering over Alya's phone burst into laughter.

That wasn't…that wasn't  _him_ was it? No, they must be watching another video…surely  _Chat Noir_ wouldn't make a sound like a –

"He really is a cat, isn't he?" Nino laughed heartily.

No. No, no, no,  _no_ –

Alya replayed the little video. The laughter compounded.

"He's so  _cute!_ " Rose cooed, jumping up and down excitedly. "Look at his blush!"

"Yeah, I don't think he really thought Ladybug would do it!" Alya added in.

Adrien agreed. He  _didn't_ think Ladybug would  _bite him._

He was about to say something –  _anything_ – in defense of his alter-ego, when someone much smaller than him came barreling into the doorway, successfully ramming into him. Adrien stumbled forward a step, but turned quickly enough to catch the lithe form before she hit the ground.

"Hey, Mar," he said quickly, when he realized who it was. "Funny running into you…heeerre…"

Adrien faltered.

Marinette was modest, sure, but she was also quite reserved. Most often, several layers seemed to be required before the girl left the house. She certainly didn't show  _that_ much, um,  _skin_. It was a simple sundress, short-sleeved with a flowy a-line flair that hit her knees. Pretty, practical, and definitely eye-catching. And her  _knees_.

_Her. Knees._

All behold as super _model_  Adrien Agreste, who is anything  _but_ body shy, dies at the sight of a girl's  _knees_.

To be fair…they were very cute knees.

Adrien, who finally realized that he might have been staring a little too long (yes, at her knees), cleared his throat and pulled the girl up from her crouch. When he finally caught sight of Marinette's face, he tried not to scowl. She was, of course, pink across her cheeks (he was  _used_ to that sight), but she was also wearing a smile that told him she knew what was running through his mind at the moment. And he did  _not_ care for  _her_ to be reading his thoughts.

He promptly gave her a slightly impassive face, a calm smile, and a pointed look that plainly said,  _shut up_.

"You guys finished with your doorway scene over there?"

The voice was Alya's, but it was followed by giggles from all over. Apparently their little "doorway scene" had drawn the attention of the entire classroom.

Chloé scoffed, rolling her eyes and going back to playing with her phone. For some reason, ever since Adrien had told his friend about his feelings for Marinette – the only person in the classroom to know about them at all – Chloé had given him the cold shoulder. He wasn't sure if it was a blessing or not, but, either way, Adrien was going to address her sound of derision. Before he even got a word out, however, Alya let out a long, loud gasp.

"Adrien  _Agreste_!" she squealed, snapping his attention to her. "Is that a  _hickey_ on your  _cheek!?_ "

What?

Oh, yeah.  _That_.

Without meaning to, Adrien's eyes flicked to Marinette's. It was a knee-jerk reaction. Marinette, however, only looked up at him innocently, blinking bright doe eyes at him.

"Ha! Adrien, I didn't take you for someone who would be into  _literally_ sucking face!"

_That_ voice was Kim's, and, like Alya's statement before, drew laughter from everyone in the room.

Adrien had to think of something. And fast. He would  _not_ lose a round of  _anything_ to this small, annoying,  _beautiful –_

_NO, DO NOT COMPLIMENT THE ENEMY!_

Adrien looked at Alya bashfully, laughing lightly though one of his model smiles.

(He didn't miss the way Alya's eyes  _also_  snuck a glance at Marinette, grin growing to a Cheshire-like state. Nor did he miss how the forever-blogging blogger now had her phone pointed at  _him_.)

Adrien pulled out all the stops.

Kitten eyes. Timid look. Toe the ground.

"It's, uh, not a hickey, Alya," Adrien said in decidedly reserved voice. "Just a bruise, I promise. I, uh…" he glanced purposefully over to Marinette, putting a hand on the nape of his neck for effect. "I've never even kissed a girl before."

The effect was immediate. All the girls in the class let out a collective, " _awwwwww!_ ", while all the guys exclaimed at the admission.

Nino was first to talk.

"Dude, if you haven't even  _kissed_ a girl and have all the ladies swooning over you already, the rest of us are doomed, yo."

There was a collective acquiescence to this statement. Adrien tried not to look too smug when he looked back at Marinette. Marinette, the blushing blue-nette, though, only patted him on the arm, looking at the class before turning her eyes back to his own.

"Oh, don't worry guys. I'm sure you all are just fine," she spoke with a sweet voice, but Adrien was scowling suspiciously at her. "Wittle Agweste here is just a little…sheltered."

Giggles. Alya's shoulders shook. Nino was covering his face with his hands, laughing, but unable to handle the embarrassment rolling off Adrien's shoulders.

It was surprising, hearing this coming from Marinette's lips. It stopped him for half a second, but this was Adrien's game. Marinette, unwittingly, had moved into  _his_ playing field. Into  _Chat Noir's_ expertise. Chat Noir: Flirt Master Extraordinaire.

"You're right, Mar," Adrien purred, looking at her with lidded eyes, leaning closer to her. "And I could use a teacher." Her hand left his arm like she was suddenly stung, eyes widening. "Or…a private tutor."

" _Oooooooo_!"

Marinette's brow furrowed just enough for Adrien to see that she was, in fact, affected, but then Ladybug did something she had never done with Chat Noir: she  _flirted back_.

"Sorry, Adrien," she almost whined, stepping into his space a little more. A finger poked his chest lightly before she dragged it down. At the same moment, her bottom lip jutted out in the cutest pout Adrien had ever seen. "But my schedule is pretty full."

Adrien was  _not_ affected.  _He was NOT._

"I'll take the liberty of putting my name on the waiting list. I'm only interested in learning  _your_ technique." He bit his bottom lip. " _Specifically_."

Despite her now raging blush, Marinette still managed to look unmoved.

"Ah, but I only take the most  _promising_ students. And you're a little out of  _luck_ in that department, Agreste."

She had clicked her tongue at the end of the word "luck"; Adrien had been so drawn into her that he jumped at the sound. This was  _not_ going as planned. How was Marinette –  _Ladybug_ – beating him at  _his_ game?

Obviously this banter in front of everyone wasn't working out.

Adrien needed…a more direct approach.

With a sneaky smile that made Marinette look at him questioningly, Adrien gently grabbed onto her shoulder and leaned forward until he could whisper into her ear.

"Sometimes," he ghosted into her ear, not even bothering to hide his smile when she tensed up under his touch, "I think you break my heart a little."

"Sometimes," she whispered back immediately, albeit a little breathlessly, "I almost believe you have one."

A silent second, and then Adrien burst into silent laughter, pulling Marinette close enough for the chuckles to land in her hair.

It only took a second for the two secret superheroes to feel the stares burning into them, the silent audience to their sudden, somehow intimate situation.

The two teens went silently back to seats, both red-faced, both trying to appear as if  _whatever_ just happened did  _not_ just affect them as much as it seemed. Everyone else, though, was watching every move the two made with maddening acuteness. Well, everyone except for Nino, who was lost in the confines of his hat, blushing wildly.

Adrien had never been more thankful for the school bell to ring. And not just for the fact that everyone's eyes were suddenly focused on their teacher. The model had some things to contemplate.

_"Sometimes, I think you break my heart a little."_

_"Sometimes, I almost believe you have one."_

Somehow, out of everything, thinking back to this part of their banter was what was really making his heart race.

Also…

_Knees._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since this thing is already terribly off schedule, I want to just do some fun stuff with it. And…maybe make the next chapter the last chapter? Maybe. ANYWAY! I have a few prompts that I picked from my growing Pinterest board and I want y'all to choose one for tomorrow! There's only one rule to voting…have fun. ;3
> 
> Option 1:  
> "She never spoke, never made a sound, but the look in her eyes told me exactly what was about to happen."
> 
> Option 2:  
> "Right now, I don't know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge."  
> "Can I pick?"
> 
> Option 3:  
> "The Hesitant Kiss – The type of kiss where their lips touch a brush against each other's a few times, breath fanning across each other's faces as one waits for the other to make a move."
> 
> Aaaaand a bonus Option 4:  
> "I'm fine."  
> "You don't _look_ fine."  
>  "Then stop looking."
> 
> ....
> 
> *accidentally just spent the last 30+ minutes looking at all kinds of writing prompts*  
> HEY THANKS FOR READING :DDDD


	5. MariChat VS The Evilustrator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anybody up for a swim? 8)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this, and then completely rewrote it, and then saw how long it was and tried to shorten it…but it just didn't work out. So…here you go. A big ol' chapter in a series that was just supposed to be silly drabble-y chapters. n.n  
> ...  
> AND THE WINNER IS...

_Day 5 Prompt:_

_"Right now, I don't know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge."_

_"Can I pick?"_

* * *

Marinette had never wished for an Akuma attack in her life. Usually she would complain at having one right after the other, especially when she had fought against her own best friend the day before. Usually she would huff at the inconsiderate disposal of bad vibes two days in a row. But not today.

_Today_ , Marinette had found out in  _the worst way possible_ the real identity of her partner.

_Today,_ Marinette had gone only about 10 minutes into homeroom until the fragments of her broken reality started unwillingly piecing themselves together, despite her best efforts to avoid doing so.

_Today_ , Marinette had only lasted another hour before Mme. Bustier sent her to the nurse's office for fear that a sudden, feverish illness had taken hold of her.

So, today, Marinette was thankful for the second Akuma attack in a row – Not for someone getting Akumatized, really, but for the distraction. Even if it  _was_ Nathanael.

The boy had a huge crush on her. Who knew?

_She_ didn't.

But apparently, as Marinette found out later, her red-haired classmate hadn't handled what the class had (appropriately) named the "doorway scene" very well. Like there was any question about who Marinette liked before that, right? Adrien was pretty attached to her by the hip (or the other way around, but that doesn't matter). Nathanael, though, apparently had harbored some sort of hope for her affections despite all this, only to have them dashed to pieces at the sight of her playful, flirtatious banter with her civilian counterpart.

What really sealed the deal, though, was when Mme. Bustier, upon insisting Marinette go see the nurse, had then pointedly asked Adrien to escort her there (that complete  _shipper!_ ) The other students had let out some suggestive " _ooooo's_ " before stage-whispering philosophies on what the two "really would be doing." Beyond being embarrassing for the two teens to whom the comments were directed, Nathanael, the sweet boy, had had a silent meltdown at the interchange. Marinette and Adrien had barely made it down the hall before Nathanael, in all his stripey supersuit and Anime hair glory, had burst through the wall of the classroom.

The sight of an Akuma, admittedly, didn't surprise Marinette very much. Their school – their  _class_ – seemed to have a propensity for attracting the bad-news butterflies.

What  _did_ surprise Marinette, thought, was feeling Adrien's hands suddenly grab hold of her, one on her waist and on her arm, tightening defensively. Thankfully the destruction happening around her covered her internally and somewhat outward screaming at the sudden, protective physical contact. But while Marinette was internally reeling at this seemingly simple action, the gesture only seemed to further upset the possessed boy facing them.

A snarl was the only warning they had before the Akuma raised his hand, twirling his magical stylus and – !

– started doodling on his magical sketchpad.

(It would have been comedic to see the way both secret superheroes' heads tilted questioningly at this gesture.)

"Here's something to help with your perfect  _hair,_ Model Boy!"

As they watched, a giant hairdryer suddenly materialized in front of them. Before Marinette could even react, Adrien was already moving. He shoved Marinette away from the enormous flying bathroom tool; then, after throwing her a strained wink _,_ took off down the hall, hairdryer in  _hot_ pursuit

_What the what now!?_

Marinette had picked herself up and was about to follow after Adrien, when a voice suddenly sounded next to her. She jumped at the close proximity.

"Marinette," said the teenaged villain in a voice that was all-too-familiar. Marinette turned to study his face, thinking of who from her class had  _not_ been Akumatized yet.

Red hair…drawing pad…

" _Nathanael?_ " she sputtered, obviously surprised. The artist had been quiet all morning, as he was prone to do. Shy, timid Nathanael? What could have possibly…?

Nathanael smiled, seeming suddenly shy. "It's, uh, it's 'The Evilustrator' now, actually. I need to talk to you, Marinette."

"O-Okay, well, I, uh, I actually need to get to the nurse, so um…yeah. Nice outfit though!"

Marinette offered a wave before turning away. She needed to transform into Ladybug. She needed to make sure Adrien was safe. Her hallway companion seemed to have other plans, though.

"Marinette, wait!" The Evilustrator grabbed onto her wrist when she tried to leave, but let go immediately, as if touching her would scald his skin. "I can, I mean, I'm just asking for a chance, Marinette!"

A what now?

"I don't understand," Marinette replied, curious now despite her instinct to run. This was one of her friends, after all.

"I just – ugh! – I just can't see you with  _him_ anymore." Nathanael nodded toward the direction Adrien had ran off to. His fists clenched and his eyes flared with malice. All at once, the anger dancing in his eyes was turned toward Marinette. "You –  _You_  should be with  _me_."

Ah. Okay.

Marinette let out a shaky breath, taking a few tentative steps back.

How does one turn down a possessed teenage boy? She thinks that she might have missed that article in the last  _La Mode_ magazine. Oh well. Regardless… _this_? This was  _not_ going to happen.

"I should be able to choose who I want to be with, Nathanael."

"You  _go_ , girl!" someone shouted from behind The Evilustrator. And for the second time that day, Marinette realized her class had become privy to what should have probably been a private conversation. At least, not one that warranted being  _recorded_  for whatever reason.

(She realized, later, that Alya was liveblogging. Great.)

Alya crouched in the doorway, several other classmates standing behind her. They had all been watching the "show", but now everyone other than Alya was attempting to fry the blogger with their laser vision for having just revealed their super-secret spying location. The Evilustrator growled, and Marinette, realizing that she might need to protect her friends, like,  _now_ , took advantage of the small distraction and split.

Three seconds of hard running in, she saw the one person who could always put her at ease.

Chat Noir was running straight toward her, but in lieu of the wide Cheshire smile that made him  _him_ , she saw instead an intensity that, frankly, scared her. When he caught up to her, he latched onto her arms, and gave her a thorough once over. There was a little bit of relief in his eyes, but the smile was still elusive.

"He didn't touch you, did he?" he whispered, looking from the direction of The Evilustrator and back to her.

Marinette shook her head immediately, not entirely able to form words yet. What she really needed was someone to tell her what she was feeling, because  _she_ sure as heck didn't know. From being the unknowing reason for the newest Akuma to having Cat-Boy not only looking at her in a  _nice_ way but with something protective-bordering-on-possessive flashing in his eyes…Marinette was having a hard time putting a name to the emotion currently making her heart race.

"G-Glad to see you weren't  _blown_  away, Kitty," she finally replied quietly, hoping to alleviate some of the butterflies flying around in her chest.

Chat Noir chuckled, a small smile playing at his lips. He let go of her arms as The Evilustrator, upon trapping their classmates in a glass box (Alya still recording with a smile on her face), turned to look their way.

"It was a  _hairy_ situation to be sure," he muttered, pulling Marinette behind him and taking a defensive stance. Nathanael was drawing something on his pad, and in the next moment, he was jumping onto a flying board of some sort. Chat turned to look at Marinette, who was still frozen in place, all thoughts and feelings that didn't revolve around  _him_ having left her brain completely.

Unfortunately, there was no warning this time.

Chat yelped when a glass box, like the one their class was now trapped in, dropped from  _nowhere_ , cutting him off from Marinette and securing him in a cubical prison. Marinette only had time to widen her eyes before arms were around her, hoisting her into the air. An explosion made her scream in surprise, and she covered her head in defense as another wall was blown apart, sending chunks of debris everywhere. She was flying, she knew, but she couldn't open her eyes to see where she was going; all she could do was grab on tight to the form carrying her, eyes shut tight.

No, no, no, no!

Marinette was going to  _kill_ Hawkmoth.

…If she didn't die here first.

(And, even then, she hoped with all her residual Ladybug magic, she'd be able to come back and haunt the life out of Hawkbutt for subjecting her to this.)

With a dramatic sigh, Marinette hung loosely over Nathanael's shoulder as they soared higher and farther away from the school. Uncertain if she really wanted to see how high they had gone (it was a little scarier without the protection of her spots,  _okay!?_ ), Marinette peered through the slits of her eyes at the retreating ground. Chat was staring at them, and seeing him free of his box prison and coming for her was a bigger relief than she would ever let him know.

Marinette breathed out heavily, able to relax a bit now. She propped her head up in one hand, resting her elbow on her captor's shoulder. Tikki's big blue eyes peeked out of Marinette's purse, looking up expectantly at her Ward, but Marinette only shrugged in response to her wide-eyed companion. What could Marinette do? It wasn't like she could transform right now, not without revealing her identity to literally the one person in the world from whom it was most important to hide. Fortunately, she could see Chat Noir following them.

Unfortunately, he was too slow compared to Nathanael's flying wakeboard thing; he'd never catch up to them unless her abductor stopped.

What Marinette needed now was a plan.

As they flew over the city, a familiar landmark caught her attention.

"Nathanael!" she yelled suddenly, turning her head to look at his face. "Let's stop there, yeah? We can talk on the bridge about, you know… _stuff_."

A flutter of eyelashes went a long way.

The boy blinked at her before looking over her shoulder at where she was pointing. Then he blushed.

"O-Okay."

They touched down on the Pont des Arts, and Marinette put a hand to her chest, purposefully taking in large gasps of air.

"Wow!" she said breathily, turning to Nathanael. "That was really brave what you just did, Nath, taking me from Chat Noir like that!" She clasped her hands together in mock idol worship. "I never liked him…I'm so,  _so_ thankful you did that for me."

Chat Noir landed deftly behind him, but Nathanael was so caught up in Marinette's cooing to pay attention to anything else. Whatever Marinette was doing was working, so she amped it up a little.

She batted her eyelashes some more.

She wiggled her hips, just a little.

She stared straight into his eyes through her own heavy lids.

And then silently congratulated herself for nearly disarming an Akumatized villain without even laying a finger on him. Now all she had to do was let Chat take over as the distraction he was so she could run off and transform.

Nathanael was stuck in a wide-eyed stare. As surprisingly and ego-boosting to Marinette as this was, what surprised her most was when she spied a familiar cat-boy frozen behind him, wearing a similar expression.

Marinette suddenly couldn't breathe.

A pair of purple butterfly lines appeared around Nathanael's eyes, and Marinette looked passed him in this temporary distraction to gesture pointedly at Chat.

Their eyes locked onto each other, and Marinette suddenly felt just as frozen as her partner looked.

Marinette gulped thickly.

Thankfully, Chat seemed to recover from his stupor before The Evilustrator was done chatting (arguing?) with Hawkmoth. Without the boy ever seeing it coming, Chat landed a sound kick on The Evilustrator's back, sending him flying straight passed Marinette. With a swift grab, Marinette snatched the stylus from his hands as he whooshed by.

Before she had a chance to celebrate however, Marinette was once again grabbed roughly around the waist and snatched into the air. This time, however, instead of screaming at the debris flying around her, she screamed at the sight of the river rushing up to her.

A hand covered her mouth while she and her companion spun up and around. When she was finally still (though the world still seemed to be spinning a bit), the one thing she could register – other than the  _ridiculously_ nice smell of her superhero partner – was warm breath on her hair and warm arms surrounding her as they sat still and silent in the rafters of the bridge.

They could hear the angry roars of The Evilustrator form above them, either not knowing where they were or unable to get to them. Either way, Chat's plan had worked. Marinette couldn't focus, though; Chat Noir was breathing heavily while staring into her eyes, and she was captivated, again, by the look in them.

She'd seen her kitty with many different expressions. Playful. Snarky. Smirking. Even scared on occasion. But this?

This was new.

(And it was just for her.)

And all she could do was stare back at him, feeling like her chest was heaving in equal pace as his, though she hadn't put forth the same physical effort he had. He was  _warm_  from it. Smelled like sweat. Mixed with his usual cologne, it was a heady scent, and Marinette found herself leaning in a little closer just to get  _more_ of it.

"Are you sniffing me?" he asked after maybe the fourth deep breath in.

"Uh…" Marinette didn't look up at him, didn't want to see the look in his eyes, the mirth that she could  _feel_ suddenly radiating from him. "Yes?"

She had looked. And he  _was_ smirking.

Marinette scowled.

"Tikki,  _spots on!_ "

Chat stumbled backward, and Marinette was grateful he didn't drop her altogether as she suddenly transformed. She turned away from him, legs wrapped around one of the beams there to hold her steady, before de-evilizing the Akuma and sending the cure around the city. It all happened swiftly, matter-of-factly; Ladybug, upon finishing, snapped her compact shut and sat back down by a wide-eyed Chat again, putting an arm on him for support before calling off her transformation. Tikki gave a little wave to Chat Noir before flying back into Marinette's purse.

Still wrapped in her own thoughts and grumblings, Marinette, without thinking much about it, wrapped her hands around Chat's neck before plopping down in his lap. When her kitty made no movement or sound of any kind, Marinette glanced at him.

"Whaaat are you doing?" he asked, looking her up and down.

Marinette instantly felt the telltale heat of a blush race up her cheeks.

Oh, this position was a little…

_Not_ suggestive. She was  _not_ going to even  _think_ "suggestive".

_Intimate_. Their position was a little  _intimate_ and Chat – haha, this was so  _funny_ – Chat couldn't read her mind and apparently had  _no idea what she was doing_.

"I – well, uh, you –  _Chat_ you, I mean – should probably take me back to the school, r-right?"

"Oh, uh…yeah…I guess so…I just, I mean…" Chat's grip around her tightened.

_Since when did Adrien Agreste ever sound_ flustered _?_ Marinette mused silently, trying not to let her lip twitch into the smile it was aching for.

"Marinette, are you disappointed that I'm Chat Noir?"

Chat Noir looking anything but confident was  _strange_. But seeing  _Chat Noir_ looking truly  _nervous_ was something so out of context with the Chat Noir she knew so well, Marinette almost laughed out loud. Almost.

"Uh, yeah, I am," she answered, looking straight at him. His ears immediately drooped and he went to look away, but she touched his cheek to turn him back to face her.

"But it's not  _because_ of you." Marinette sighed, fighting within herself to keep going. "I'm, well, I'm disappointed that  _you_ had to see me like…like I am, I guess. I, uh…" She squirmed a bit in his arms (trying not to think about how  _nice_ it felt). "I'm disappointed that the two people whose opinions matter most to me have both seen me at my weakest. I mean, you're  _Chat Noir_ , and you're  _Adrien Agreste._ You're strong, and confident, and so incredibly,  _stupidly_ brave, and I just…I know my power – well,  _Tikki's_ power – is what cleanses everything, but really, what more do I have to offer? I come up with these insane plans and spout out the first one that comes to mind and I want to sound like I know what I'm doing, hoping it will help me feel more, well, more sure of myself. More like  _you_."

Chat was staring at her with the biggest kitten eyes she'd ever seen on a human being. Then his lips pursed and he looked away.

"You mean more like, Adrien, right?"

For the second time, Marinette grabbed this boy's face and turned his head to her.

" _No_ , Chat, I mean like  _you_. Both – or well,  _all_ – of  _you_."

His lips twitched slowly into a smile, and then a dopey grin, and then a bit of a smirk. It was like watching a…well, a model during a photoshoot. Marinette smiled and pulled her hands around his neck again, looking away. Chat chuckled next to her.

"Ladybug has a crush on Chat Noir."

Marinette whipped her head back at her partner's words, hoping her betrayal shown as bright on her face as her blush felt.

" _Wow_ , really?" she said. " _That's_ what you got out of all that?"

"Can you blame me?" he said in a low voice. "This is like, the best day of my life! My flirting, which was just meant to get under your skin, actually  _worked_. Like a two-for-one deal."

"Oh my  _gosh_ are you  _serious_ right now!?  _Gall_ , Chat! Most days I don't know whether to push you off a bridge or kiss yooouuu…" her words trailed off to die in the thick awkwardness that followed. That's  _not_ what she meant to say. Sure, that's what she was  _thinking_ about – had been for the good part of the last 24 hours, to be honest – but definitely not what she had meant to say out loud.

Chat…looked even more smug. It made her temper flare.

"Can I pick?" he purred, leaning forward and wiggling his eyebrows.

"You  _really_ want to push your luck again?" she whispered back, touching the bruised spot on his cheek while trying to ignore the way her heart beat wildly. He snorted at this.

"I think – "

_Oh, holey cheese, he was so close now._

" – that you're hardly – "

Their noses brushed, his eyes starting to flutter closed.

" – in a position – "

Her eyes closed and her breathing was coming out in slightly rattling gasps.

_Is this really happening!?_

" – to negotiate."

Chat's clawed fingers traced lightly up Marinette's back. They were close, they were touchy-feely by nature.

But this?  _This_ just gave Marinette the overall feeling of  _hot_.

Her hands went to either side of his face, thumbing his cheeks right under his mask.

"A-Are you threatening me?" Marinette voiced, hardly able to get the words out with the feel of Chat's breath on her lips. She didn't give him time to answer, though. The pressure in her chest was too intense. Instead, deciding that she couldn't wait any longer, she  _went for it_.

There was a brief moment when she felt like she would actually be able to  _enjoy_ this kiss with her partner, that he would actually  _kiss back_ this time, but…no.

Chat Noir, in his surprise, slipped backward, taking Marinette with him for a swim in the Seine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! 8)  
> ...  
> Goal: 1500 words or less every chapter.  
> Reality: THEY KEEP GETTING BIGGER. :o  
> ...  
> Guys, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT! Especially with that last chapter! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  
> Y'all know how to make a girl feel good! :D  
> ...  
> TWO DAYS LEFT!  
> ...  
> (Then it's back to 'My Girlfriend's Boyfriend'…are you ready!?)


	6. Ladybug VS Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette can't brain right, and maybe it has to do with a swim in the Seine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who, whether you really realize it or not, helped me through the last 2 (3?) weeks. You all literally inspire me, and while it was a tough go there for a while, reading little messages taking about how this or that made them smile, or asking me to keep writing…it helped more than you'll ever know.
> 
> I'm still trying to, well, get "back on my feet", so-to-speak, so hopefully this chapter doesn't disappoint!
> 
> Thank you. I love you. You're great. And…yeah. n.n xoxoxo

_Day 6 Prompt:_

_"I'm fine."_

_"You don't look fine."_

_"Then stop looking."_

* * *

On the list of acceptable activities for teenagers to be engaging in, Marinette didn't think "bridge jumping" or "swimming in the Seine" really qualified. To be fair, though, Marinette and her companion weren't normal teenagers, and, really, this seemed a bit mild on their personal "0 to Dangerous" scale.

Then again, Marinette was wearing something less fashionable and more in the form of fantastic super armor when these things happened.

Chat had fallen backward, Marinette practically still on top of him. After his wide-eyed realization seemed to finally sink it (Marinette was going to  _kill_ him – had he realized  _that_ yet!?), Chat seemed to make a grab for her, though Marinette didn't know what exactly he planned to do once he had her. Hold her to him? Cradle her fall? She knew how to catch herself in these situations, dang it, and she fought against him to let him know. It would only be a hinderance to them both if he tried to swoop in and "save" her now.

She could have sworn she saw an eyeroll before Chat batted her flailing hands away. In the next moment, Marinette felt a strange pull around her hips and up passed her hair. She could barely register something flying out of Chat's hand to the space just above them before both teens arched in preparation for the dive in. The next moment, all Marinette could feel was  _cold._

And it  _was_ cold. Colder than Marinette had mentally prepped herself for (but really, she didn't exactly have the  _time_  to do so). The sheer  _shock_ of the temperature change was causing a strange mixture of muscle spasms and frozen limbs.  _Move. Push. GO._ The thoughts kept repeating themselves in her mind, Marinette trying hard to keep replaying the mantra as the light of the oh-so-distant sun kept her bleary eyes looking upward. The current was fighting against her slow progress, and, not for the first time, Marinette almost wished she had never become Ladybug, if just to avoid being frustrated by her limitations when she was just a "mere mortal". She hated how every movement felt so  _hard_.

Just as she was about overcome by fatigue, Marinette jerked at the sudden feeling of something grabbing her around her middle. The next moment the water around her face was gone, and she was gasping for air, taking large gulps of the commodity her lungs were sorely missing. Vision blurry from the water, Marinette closed her eyes in needed respite and lolled her head back onto whatever – whoever – had just saved her. All of her current brainpower seemed to be dedicated to  _breathing_ – something normal people seemed to need, surprising enough. Ugh.

For the second time, Marinette internally scowled at her own human limitations.

_Ladybug_  wouldn't have had this problem.

She should have transformed before she hit the water. Heck, she should transform  _now._ Tikki would help –

Tikki.

_Tikki!_

_"T-Tikki!_ "

Turning wildly in the water, she realized for the first time just  _who_ her "rescuer" was. Really, he should be considered her savior in this moment, but the fact that Chat Noir was kinda the reason they were in the river in the first place, Marinette's hero worship was a little less than favorable. That is, until she saw the little bag wrapped twice around his neck, the strap attached to it held tight in his mouth to keep the pouch above the water as they tread along. He was looking at her, and she was staring at him, suddenly ignoring all thoughts of her little red companion who poked her head out of the bag at that moment to wave.

He…he had saved Tikki.

He hadn't been trying to make a desparate grab for Marinette before they hit the water…the ever-the-hero cat-boy had been snatching her purse to keep  _Tikki_ from going under.

A surge of affection for her partner ballooned in Marinette's chest. The sensation sent a tingling feeling to all her extremeties that had absolutely  _nothing_ to do with the cold.

And suddenly Marinette didn't even regret falling in the river if it meant getting to see this display. She would kiss him again, fall from any height again, just to see this look of determined tenderness.

And Marinette really,  _really_ wanted to kiss him again.

The thought sent a shiver through her involuntarily, and she felt Chat turn his head to look at her. He looked completely  _adorable_. Which was unfair, since, Marinette was sure, she looked like wet garbage.

When they reached the shore, Marinette scrambled up the ledge and away from her companion, grabbing Tikki's bag from around Chat on the way up. Chat took a few deep breaths, and when he spoke, his voice was a little breathless.

"How you doin' there, Princess?"

Marinette couldn't look at him. She was decidedly busy pretending to be interested in having a chat with her Kwami, but really, the only thing she was doing was repeating "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh" under her breath over and over again. Tikki, who was sitting patiently in Marinette's open palms, giggled quietly before zipping back in her bag. Marinette jumped when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Fine!" she answered finally, turning around to face her hero. He was standing too close, but Marinette thought that even if she backed up 20 feet, he would  _still_ be too close. Or…maybe he wasn't close enough now. His eyes searched her face before looking her over, his hand never leaving her shoulder. When he met her eyes, she tried to ignore the fact that she was realizing how wet and leather were really  _working_ for her and clamped her mouth shut to keep from saying something out loud.

"You sure?" he asked, eyes skeptical.

Marinette snorted. Yeah, she  _was_  having problems recovering, but it wasn't from her dip in the Seine.

(Okay, it  _was_ because of her dip in the Seine, but not for any of the  _obvious_ reasons.)

"Y-yeah," she squeaked in reply before clearing her throat and trying for a lower voice. "I'm fine, really."

Chat's lips twitched. Like he was trying not to laugh. Marinette felt herself flush.  _Maybe_ her voice had dropped a little too low. She cleared her throat noisily, shoving Chat away and starting to walk away from him. She really needed to put some distance between them. Like… _now_.

"You don't  _sound_ fine."

Oh, great. He was following her. She could picture him sauntering behind her…and she tried to pretend like she wasn't kinda sorta checking her out or anything.

(Or maybe she  _did_ want him to. If she swayed her hips a  _little_ more than she normally would…well, no one would need to know.)

"I'm fine, Kitten, really."

It was  _that_ precise moment when Marinette, of course, tripped over her feet. Luckily, she had caught herself when she tripped, missing out on a sweet face plant on the dirty pavement. Unluckily, she realized that along with some of her dignity, the Seine had also stolen her shoes. A hand on her arm made her finally turn around to face Chat.

"You don't  _look_ fine."

"Then stop looking," Marinette automatically replied. Because she was frustrated with herself and the stupid way he was making her think and act and feel all…stupid.

Chat chuckled. " _That_ would be a real tragedy." He leaned into her personal space and Marinette clenched her fists at the feel of him so close.

"You look remarkably good wet, you know," he whispered to her.

The next move was completely accidental. Marinette blamed the months of fighting alongside a flirty tease. She blamed the comment. She blamed  _Chat_.

And was  _ticked_ when he  _laughed_ after she punched him in the nose.

Because  _she_ was mortified.

And…entranced.

And really,  _really_ cold and wet and completely  _uncomfortable_ , but…

NNnnggggg….

Before Marinette could respond with another right hook to Chat's smug face, she yelped as she was literally swept off her feet. In one continuously fluid movement, Marinette watched, completely enraptured, as Chat repositioned the hand hooked around her knees to make sure the flowy skirt of her dress was tucked in between his hand and her inner knees modestly. It was a  _very_ good thing Marinette was already off her feet; that movement alone made her extremely weak in aforementioned joint area. To astound her even more, their first stop wasn't the bakery, or a rooftop, or even to the rescue vehicles that had appeared on the bridge. Instead, it was next to a very confused-looking Nathanael who was sitting by a rescue worker. A brief conversation followed – something about Nath being Akumatized and Marinette accidentally falling into the river but it wasn't Nathanael's fault, it was Chat's – where Marinette was faintly aware of Chat's grip on her tightening slightly until they were off again.

It was getting colder as they moved through the streets swiftly, the air moving against Marinette's soaked hair and dress with an uncomfortable chill. With a significant shiver, Marinette tucked herself into Chat's neck and chest more tightly. And while he shouldn't have smelled good, having just taken a swim in a city waterway, Marinette felt, just like when she was under the bridge with him, that this smell –  _his_ smell – was so distinctly designed for  _her…_

And suddenly she couldn't stand it anymore.

She could blame the dip in the cold water. She could blame adrenaline mixing with her teenage hormones. Heck, she could even blame the Akuma, because why not? She could, but she wouldn't. This was all her. This was something she wanted  _so bad_ , and no amount of shivering or leaping through the air or stupid surprises in any form was going to get in the way this time.

She would just make sure and avoid the lips.

(They were still leaping over tall buildings in single bounds, and she didn't feel like pushing her luck twice in one day.)

So without thinking more about it, Marinette reached up the last inch or so and pressed her lips against Chat's cheek, lingering for a moment to try to memorize the soft feel of his skin.

Chat Noir stumbled a bit, but, thankfully, didn't fall off of any tall structures this time. Marinette was just a little pleased to see a red tint peeking out from beneath his mask.

The bakery was in sight, and Marinette noticed how he had slowed down to a walk even though they were still a block or so away. Another step and Marinette yelped a bit when they dropped carefully into an alley.

"Wait here for a sec, okay?"

Without waiting for a response (even if she had managed something, it would have come out as a gurgled, garbled mess), Chat placed Marinette carefully onto the ground, replacing the purse around her. With a slight flourishing bow, he placed a kiss on her hand. While the gesture was all-too-familiar, this time was different. It  _felt_ different. It sent a shiver up her spine. Especially when he carefully flipped over her hand and repeated the gesture on her palm, his nose ghosting across the skin of her inner wrist. (Marinette did  _not whimper_. She did  _not._ )

Then he was gone, vaulting over the edge of the building.

As soon as he left – as soon as there was no more sign of him, Marinette's body went into a fit of shivers before collapsing on the spot. All thoughts warred – as they had all day – between rejoicing in finally – F-I-N-A-L-L-Y – making some sort of  _move_ on Adrien Agreste and having the feelings associated with it  _aggressively reciprocated_ , and agony at Chat Noir not only realizing that her "tough girl" exterior was a fat farce but that Ladybug had harbored some strong feelings for the partner she had claimed to dislike so heavily…and  _admitted_ it.

Did she care? Maybe. Maybe deep down she really did have enough stubbornness to fight through all of these… _feelings_ …and come out looking strong, confident, sure of herself, and antagonistically teasing.

But blame it on Chadrien Noigreste…she just didn't have enough fight left in her.

The stupid,  _stupid_ cat had  _won_.

And Marinette was the happiest she had ever felt in her life.

She barely registered Chat's –  _Adrien's?_ – voice and the footsteps rounding the corner a second later. All Marinette could tell was that a familiar pair of arms had picked her up again. And oh how she wished he would never put her down again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for taking the time out and reading this. <3  
> One chapter left! :D  
> ...  
> (This was HARDLY edited. So if something is WROOOOONG, let me know!) 8)


	7. AdrieNette VS LadyNoir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AdriLadyNetteNoir...?  
> ...Something like that. 8)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[ Um..."Naked and Afraid" is a TV show. Just FYI. ]]

  _Day 7 Prompt:_

_"Trust your heart" is one of the dumbest pieces of advice to take. How do I know that? Because once upon a time, I tried it._

* * *

Adrien was desperately trying not to feel too awkward standing in Marinette's family's bathroom. Upon delivering Marinette to them, her parents had taken one look (one whiff, perhaps), gave him directions for how to work the shower, and steered him in the direction of the washroom. It took him about 2.8 seconds to realize that he had never used someone else's shower before. Hotels? Sure. But another  _person's_? Someone he  _knew_? Yeah, no. And now, standing there and feeling like he should be covered despite the fact that  _he really needed a shower_ , he knew why.

_"Naked and Afraid",_ flashed before his eyes as he stared at the shower knobs…and paused.

And if, upon experimenting with the unfamiliar knobs (yes, he had had directions, hush), Adrien accidentally squealed when the cold water came out in a surge over his exposed skin. Well…he hoped that the Dupain-Chengs were too busy taking care of Marinette to hear him.

Hurrying in the (comparatively) tiny shower as fast as he could (while still making sure to get the smell of river water out), Adrien wasted no time, and five minutes later found a slightly disheveled blond on a pink sofa in a pink living room sitting awkwardly stiff and (im)patiently still to make sure Marinette's impromptu river dunking hadn't affected her too much.

Because if he gave her hypothermia because he literally froze at the first touch of contact that he was practically  _begging_ for, he would never forgive himself.

(And probably buy a one-way ticket to the first flight he could catch to Canada. They seemed nice.)

Adrien tried not to sigh too loudly as a recurring thought bounced around in his head once again.  _Trust in your heart._ Puh. What a load of crap. That had to be the dumbest pieces of advice to take. Adrien knew, too. He'd tried it too many times with ridiculously awful outcomes to make the words worth anything more than a scoff to him now.

_Trust in your heart_ , he had told himself when he pursued Marinette. And after all this time playing around in each other's shadows, he had only managed to sink like a lost remote in between the two couch cushions named "Romantic Limbo" and "Social Interaction Constipation".

_Trust in your heart_ , his own  _stupid_ heart had whispered to his subconscious when he made the  _stupid_ choice to try and  _stupidly_ pursue Ladybug.  _That_ at least hadn't ended fruitlessly: he knew without a question exactly where he stood with her. And because of it, he had mentally berated his heart for tricking his brain into believing that ill-conceived exploit would end anywhere near the realm of a good consequence.

_Trust in your heart_ , he willingly played over and over in his mind this entire,  _confusing_ , whirlwind of a day. Every time he looked in Marinette or Ladybug's direction, the conflicting emotions threatened to bash his skull to pieces, cause his heart to bleed out, or tie his stomach up in knots. So he tried to put an end to everything, tried to move passed the whole Does she?/Doesn't she? question rattling around in his brain and  _flirt_ and possibly  _make a move_ on the two awesome (cough –  _crazy_ – cough) girls who he had learned this morning were the same person, and let  _her_ know where  _she_ stood with  _him_. And by way of being rewarded for his actions, he ended up dropping himself  _and the flipperty flippin' love of his life_ into a possible-death-for-normal-people drop ending in a rapid river of death. All because his body had a complete shutdown when she  _touched_ him.

In his defense, Marinette, while on the one hand exuded confidence, was also, in the time Adrien had known her, markedly reserved in her… _affections_  toward him. "Shy" could be a good adjective, maybe "timid", really, to the point that said "affections" were nearly chimerical, barely existing in the small smiles, guarded laughter, and fluttering lashes that she seemed to always reserve just for him.  _Ça, alors_ , he  _liked_ it…a  _lot_. But her persistence to keep whatever  _this_ was between them on some sort of slow-moving "I kinda sorta like-like you" train made it at once thrilling to be around her but also quite –  _quite_ – predictable. Ladybug, on the other hand, was like a wildfire burning in the brush – uncontained, unbridled, and entirely burn worthy (you all thought he was going to say  _"hot"_ , didn't you?) Savage looks and purposeful bloodying of her partner were norms, and he  _loved_ every second of the intense games they played with each other. Adrien – Chat – always supposed that she was more apt to land a punch in his kisser (even in her civilian form, as this morning's revelry had shown) than actually  _kiss_ him. And for some reason, this had made her fabulously enticing to him.

So…yeah. While Adrien had been  _actually_  flirting instead of teasing, desperately working his way up to  _that point_ , he had only been mentally prepared enough to  _hope_  said object of his affections would  _reciprocate_  the preluded kiss; but, Ladybug as she was, Marinette completely took the wind out of his sails – and out of his lungs – by initiating the lip-to-lip contact herself.

Not that he was complaining, really, but…nearly fainting and falling back into the river, effectively drenching himself and his ( _his?_ ) girl( _not_ friend – yet?) in what could be considered a life-or-death situations was  _not_ the smoothest move.

The door at the top of the stairs suddenly opened, breaking Adrien away from his downward spiral of humiliation and frustration. In his haste to turn around and fueled into action by the surprise of the door, Adrien bolted out of his seat like a man on fire. He just wanted to see Marinette, wanted to see that she was okay, wanted to make sure, if he was needed, that he could be there for her or her family to offer his services. What he managed to do instead was trip on his own foot when he tried to turn around and fall into his own mess of flailing limbs and strangled cries before backing skillfully into the TV.

The TV proceeded to fall over with a cataclysmic  _crash_.

There was silence hanging in the room, and Adrien couldn't look up, couldn't face anyone that had seen that mess (the voices that were busily talking had all gone quiet…they must have been privy to this little display of gracefulness). Without anywhere else to turn, Adrien continued to stare at the TV, a giant gaping crack in the center of the screen. He draped an arm around his chest as if he was going to cross his arms over themselves, but instead used the other hand to cover his mouth in horror as a tiny plume of smoke burst out of the crack.

No one moved in the wake of the television's demise.

Until Adrien, unable to handle the dread anymore, pointed down the television as he looked up for the first time at the three – yes, all  _three_ – people standing at the top of the stairs.

"I'll pay for that," he said with a sigh, resigned to accept whatever punishment they were ready to dish out to him and hoping to hedge some of it with his shallow promise.

At once, three distinct, unrestrained roars of laughter burst into the previously quiet room. Adrien could only grin sheepishly and scratch at the nape of his neck as his cheeks warmed beneath the penetrating mirth. When he looked up again, passed the two older Dupain-Chengs, his eyes met the one he most longed to see. And while there was amusement playing the depths of His Lady's eyes, he also saw the hint of something else there, something eking out in the tiny crow's feet of her eyes and the scrunch of her nose. Something  _more_ than Marinette or Ladybug had ever given him before. A look, he knew, that wasn't necessarily different or new in terms of expression, but in possession.

That look, he knew then, was something meant just for  _him._

qpqpqpqpqp

Marinette and Adrien were finally doing exactly what Adrien had come over that morning to do in the first place: cover up his "bug bite".

Well…that's what it started as.

It took about a dozen or so cookies and a few cups of hot chocolate to get to this point, Marinette doing a full makeover over Adrien's face. The two teens were sitting cross-legged (Marinette had changed into some sweats) with their knees touching, enjoying the warm night air in the fairy lights on Marinette's balcony. Marinette had Adrien's golden hair pulled back by a pink headband, his eyelids now sporting a flashy shade of green and some impressive "cat eye" wings (Adrien had readily agreed to  _that_ ). Marinette giggled again at the sight of Adrien trying to hold still, hand shaking with repressed mirth as she held the mascara wand precariously over his closed eyelids.

"Mar," Adrien continued in his chuckling, teasing voice, "don't  _laugh_ , you're going to smear everything, and then we'll have to start over." He pawed blindly in front of him, making Marinette giggle again in return and batting his hands away. She continued in titters, coming back to her position slowly to make sure she was still enough to keep from accidentally streaking black lines across the blond's flawless cheeks (like he needed makeup to help with  _those_ perfect contours).

"Maybe that's my plan all along," Marinette replied in a playfully low voice. Adrien opened one eye a slit, only to see Marinette leaning closer than he thought she was and waggling her eyebrows. He burst out in a bark of laughter, head thrown back far enough that he had to put a hand behind him to keep himself from falling over. The next few minutes were playful and fun as ever, pushing against each other and laughing, finally ending when Marinette threatened to purposefully mark him up with mascara if he didn't hold still.

Although she  _reeeeaally_ wanted to  _kiss_ those perfectly done up lips and eyes…part of Marinette just wanted to see this fun little project through to its completion. Besides…she never had so much time to admire Adrien this close up.

She could smell  _that_ smell from this proximity, and it was absolutely  _euphoric_.

Adrien pouted at having to sit still again. He slouched forward with his hands just  _casually_ brushing against Marinette's knees. The protruding lip and slouching shoulders might be a bit, well,  _dramatic_ , but he  _was_  particularly put out that he couldn't watch Marinette's cute little tongue stick out of her cute little mouth while she concentrated on applying more of his makeup. He had seen it earlier, and had instantly fallen in love with her all over again over a simple, albeit adorable, gesture. Adrien sighed, relaxing his body a bit more (and getting a huff of fake annoyance from Marinette at his movement), and, in lieu of being able to look at his Princess, let his mind wonder over her, tapping absently against Marinette's knees to keep his hands busy.

There were, admittedly,  _other_ ways he could keep his hands busy, but…

Adrien's now fisted fingers pulled back from his previously lovely position into a distance that was a little safer, although he really,  _really_ didn't want to. In a momentary panic, Adrien decided the best course of action would be to start talking…even if it was just to keep his mind (and his hands) from wondering any farther.

"So, Marinette…"

She hummed absently in response, concentrating hard enough to miss the little smile that escaped him.

"Any particular reason you wore that dress today?"

Marinette snorted at this. Adrien laughed a little in reply and tried  _really hard_  not to blink when the tickling pressure switched to his other set of lashes.

"Sorry,  _chaton_ ," Marinette breathed out in a heavy sigh, thinking back on the day and shaking her head in embarrassment. "I've already told too many confessions today."

This time, Adrien hummed in reply. He bit his lip and felt a slight satisfaction in noticing how Marinette seemed to pause in her ministrations.

Marinette did  _not_ stop just to look at his teeth poking out over his lip. She did  _not_.

"Okay, I guess it's my turn, then, yeah?" Adrien said suddenly, and Marinette trying not to pause again and incriminate herself further in her fascination of Adrien's mouth. Instead, she gulped.  _Loudly._

Adrien smirked, fluttering his lashes as he opened his eyes.

(He looked… _fabulous_. Marinette, as she would later admit, was a little jealous of this.)

Outwardly, Marinette seemed to be calmly putting the lid on her mascara tube. On the inside, her brain was  _exploding_.

_What…what is he going to say!?_

"S-Sure, kitten," she replied.

_Great, and we're back to the stuttering_ , she thought, feeling the telltale signs of a flushed face warming her cheeks.

Adrien wasn't faring much better. He briefly wondered why on earth he had said that,  _why had he said that!?_ Not that he didn't have anything to say, but…well…

He looked down at her lips again when she looked away. She had stopped pursing them so tightly, and now they hung out in their full, adorable, completely  _kissable_  shape. The sight was enough to steel Adrien's nerves. He now knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"So, I already like Marinette quite a lot, if you didn't know," he started, blinking his eyes some more, trying to get used to the heavier feel of his lashes. "And maybe you didn't know, because, well, we never really talked about anything like that. So I  _really_ like Marinette, and then there I was, just kinda… _mildly_ attracted to Ladybug."

Marinette's eyebrows flicked upward for a quick second at this surprising information, a small smile tugging on her lips.

Adrien cleared his throat, looking down at their laps before reaching forward and taking one of Marinette's hands in both of his. His fingers slowly traced over all the delicate curves of her wrist, her palm, her own fingers. He placed a kiss there, slowly, before continuing on.

Marinette knew he could feel her quaking slightly.  _She_  could feel it, could feel herself trembling under his touch. The mascara tube dropped from her other hand and she didn't even notice.

"I, uh, I tried to  _annoy_ Ladybug," Adrien continued with a small laugh, "tried to… _aggressively_ flirt with her to rile her up." His eyes rose under his sparkly lids to meet her own. "I  _like_ that I can do that with LB. I  _like_ that I can get such a rise out of her."

Marinette rolled her eyes, but felt her cheeks burn anew at the intensity of his stare. He grinned before kissing her hand again. Marinette thought she might pass out if he did any more of  _that._

"You'd blush, just like that." His voice lowered as the tension – and their heartbeats – continued to rise. "And then you'd pummel me. Or, well, you'd  _try_ to."

Marinette went to smack him on the leg, but somehow her hand got stuck there, causing her to lean forward just a bit…just a bit  _closer_.

Adrien didn't seem to mind…

Adrien, for his part, definitely  _did not mind._ Sweet cheesy kittens, he did not mind any of  _that_ action at  _all_.

"I thought," he continued in a whisper, taking a hand away from her own hand to trail slowly up the arm now resting on his leg. "I thought all this time that I was  _afraid_ of girls, of, well, of getting  _involved_ , thinking that they were either too much trouble," – Marinette shivered when he started on his second track up her arm – "or absolutely  _terrifying_. Terrifying, like dear, sweet Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette fluttered her half-lidded eyes, a held breath coming out in a warm burst.

_Terrifying? HER?_

… _Sweet!? HER!?_

"Yes,  _you_ , Marinette."

Oh, had she said that out loud?

She sucked in her lips to keep from saying anything else.

And oh, how Adrien definitely didn't want her to do  _that_ , not when he was  _determined_ to take the initiative this time.

(At least they were on  _solid ground_ and, at least if he lost all control of his faculties this time, he wouldn't put himself or anyone else in mortal danger. Probably. Hopefully.)

"President of our class," he said softly, pulling both her hands to his mouth this time and never looking away from her. "Popular with everyone." A kiss on the back of her hand. "Best problem-solver and most  _insane_  engineer I've  _ever seen_." A kiss on the back of the other hand. He flipped over her hands like he had done before and Marinette briefly wondered how someone could make such a gentlemanly (flirty) behavior so incredibly incapacitating. The warm breath on her palms sent a new wave of shiver-induced goosebumps racing over her arms.

"And…you're completely fearless." A kiss on her palms. Marinette twitched in her position, inhaling sharply. Her entire body seemed to be buzzing, growing agitated with anticipation. He was going to do this, wasn't he?

_Oh please,_ please  _say he's going to do this…!_

"Marinette…" Adrien whispered, fingers pausing only a moment before reaching up to ghost over the line of her jaw. The pace of his movements was languorously slow…but he didn't – and really  _did_ – want to push his luck, or his boundaries, with this girl. When Marinette closed her eyes at his touch, Adrien almost melted. She wanted this…right? "Do you remember the Copycat Akuma?"

"Yes," Marinette replied immediately, breathlessly. She'd say whatever she had to for him to keep talking. She leaned into his touch and was satisfied when his breath hitched.

"I…I did that."

"What?" she said, eyes opening in slight surprise.

"When you didn't show up, when you missed that ceremony thing, Theo Barbot, the sculptor, he was talking about how awesome he thought you were. I…didn't like that. Like,  _at all_. Someone else wanting you. So I…I might have…told him we were together."

If Marinette was surprised by this information, she didn't show it. Instead, her eyes were bright with something Adrien couldn't name. Their weight shifted – their  _world_ shifted – when she leaned closer.

"Adrien…I have one more confession."

Adrien hummed, pulling her closer and nuzzling the side of her cheek.

_Like a cat_ , she thought, smiling.

"Theo told me what you said…" This time, Marinette reached up to put her hands on his shoulders, moving back to be able to twirl her fingers in the hair on the back of his neck. "And I…told him that you were right."

It was now or never…and Adrien wasn't going to miss this opportunity again.

Hands now on either side of her face, Adrien pulled her forward into his touch, and at the first taste, had the familiar feeling of being submerged in something bigger than him.

This time, though, he let himself drown in her.

As one small kiss turned into something a little more, both teens relaxed into each other, smiles on their faces, but unwilling to stop trying to maintain that feeling of someone's lips on their own. Someone who loved them. Someone who made their lives just  _that_ much better simply by being a part of it.

Someone who gave themselves completely to the other person, basking in their faults, laughing through the trials, and, overall, taking all the bad parts and covering them in something sweet.

Their lives had, in one day, become like a donut: deceptively tough on the outside, immensely fluffy on the inside…and delectably  _sugarcoated_.

 

_Fin!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[ That's all, folks! Happy…Valentine's…Day…! Heh. n.n;;;  
> Seriously, tho…thanks. Thanks for reading and being a part of this! It was fun! Even if it took a MONTH longer than expected. But really. Your AWESOME COMMENTS AND ALL THAT JAZZ WERE SOOOOO FUN TO READ!  
> I love you! Yes, YOU. Y-YOU – YOU! YOU STOP MOVING WHEN I'M TRYING TO POINT TO YOU. ]]  
> ...  
> (( Ça, alors ! =My goodness!, good grief! (wiki – French popular expressions) ))  
> ...  
> (Thanks for sticking around with all this craziness. ;) xoxo - Maki)  
> ...  
> ...  
> [[ P.S. WHO'S READY FOR SOME MORE "MY GIRLFRIEND'S BOYFRIEND"!?  
> 'CAUSE I AM. X) ]]  
> ...  
> [[ When did y'all realize I have a thing for enemies/lovers stuff? 'Cause like…I just realized it like, last week.  
> I may have a problem.  
> OH WELL. :3 ]]

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, this was barely edited, so if you see something, let me know! Just a speed-write, a mini-series (probably mostly drabble-sized chapters) to celebrate Valentine's Day! Yes, it makes no sense…an enemy-ish AU for V-Day, but... Hahaha. Oh well!  
> ...  
> These will all be based off of romance story writing prompts I found on Pinterest.  
> ...  
> THANKS FOR READING! *kiss kiss*


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